Sir Keir Starmer has put a “lot of effort” in to “cultivate” a relationship with US President Donald Trump, a Cabinet ally of the Prime Minister has said.
With Mr Trump having said he will meet Sir Keir in Aberdeen later this month during a private visit to Scotland, Scottish Secretary Ian Murray said holding talks with the president is the “right thing to do”.
He said US tariffs and the situation in Ukraine could be on the agenda for those discussions.
Scottish First Minister John Swinney will also meet the president – who recently voiced his support for the oil and gas sector over wind power projects.
In a BBC News interview, Mr Trump hailed Aberdeen as the “oil capital” of Europe and said “they should get rid of the windmills and bring back the oil”.
Mr Trump also said he and Sir Keir will “refine” the recent trade deal struck between the UK and the US.
The agreement reduced tariffs on car and aerospace imports, but questions remain over whether steel imports into America will face 50% tariffs.
There is also a baseline tariff of 10% for most other imports – with the Scotch whisky industry now said to be pushing for this to be lowered.
Mr Murray said: “At this stage we have no sight of what the president’s programme is, but we do know the First Minister and the Prime Minister will meet him, and it is right for them both to do so.”
Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme, the Scottish Secretary added the meetings are “the right thing to do because those relationships are incredibly important in terms of our own national interest”.
He added: “We should make sure we are working very closely with our allies for the benefit of Scotland and the whole of the United Kingdom.”
Saying that doing “what is in the UK’s national interest” is the “top priority” for the Prime Minister, the Scottish Secretary continued: “Of course tariffs will be on the agenda I am sure, and the economic situation and the issue of Ukraine and defence.
“All of these issues I am sure will be on the agenda when they speak.
“The bottom line here is that it has taken a lot of effort for the Prime Minister to cultivate this relationship with our strongest ally, that’s why we have the lowest tariffs in the world and why we had the first deal done with America in our national interest.”
Mr Murray said while the 10% tariff on whisky exports to the US is something the UK Government would like to see lowered, he added the UK’s trade deal with India had cut tariffs for sales of the drink there in a “huge, huge boon to the Scotch whisky industry”.
